Direct mail, billboards, TV spots—these are tried-and-true marketing methods that help local businesses succeed. There’s a new kid on the block, however, that’s gaining traction. Search engine optimization (SEO) gives local businesses an edge to get noticed on the world wide web.
SEO is not displacing more traditional methods of marketing a business.
“I was using family values when I first started in September, 2011,” Linda Carr, owner of Linda’s Mobile Grooming Palace said. “I also put flyers all over the place…and that was helpful for awhile.”
Carr realized that to become a search engine results in the local pet grooming queries, she need to develop an online presence, so she outsourced building a website to DexKnows. Then, she turned to local small business and online marketing experts Spire Advertising, an Ashland-based business that serves over 100 businesses in Richland County.
“I went to their seminar, ‘7 Costly Mistakes Small Businesses Make With Their Websites,’ and I was doing four of them,” Carr said. “Now, in a Google search for “pet grooming in Mansfield Ohio” I am one of the first results on the page.”
Her business shows up ahead of the big box pet store PetSmart. Carr has built up a clientele base that now tops 500 since starting her business two years ago. She attributes much of that success to SEO and her website.
“It’s working. I get on average two to three inquiries on my website each day,” Carr said. “That’s two to three new clients, and then I am able to call them and talk to them personally.”
Spire President Jeremy Harrison recommends SEO as a marketing strategy for many of his clients.
“The thing small businesses need to keep in mind is that even though SEO takes a long time, it nets a recurring stream of traffic once it’s in place,” Harrison said. “Most standard marketing strategies create a burst of traffic, and then it’s done. Once you rank in search engine results, it’s ongoing.”
When working with local small businesses, Harrison guides clients through a process that includes a few steps.
“One of the big things that people overlook is they say they want to rank in search engines, but they’re not clear on which words they should be targeting,” Harrison said. “Some small businesses have paid people to help them rank, but they are ranking for terms no one searches for. The first step is keyword research to determine what are the words customers are actually looking for. We help them to do this before we begin optimizing their pages for search engines.”
Finding the right keywords, or search terms, involves looking at a business’ products and services in a new light.
“When we’re doing keyword research, we’ve found that people search more for problems than solutions,” Harrison said. “Lots of businesses like to rank for words that describe services. But people are searching for solutions to problems, and you want to rank for those problems as well. You need to rank for both. Businesses can reach a larger audience if they can also target problem search as well.”
Some of the keywords Carr believes are popular on her site include “pet grooming,” “dog grooming,” “doggy spa” and “get the royal canine treatment.’
The growth in Carr’s clientele is typical of the results Harrison sees with clients.
“It can be exciting news for the small business owner to hear that there is an audience out there that you can introduce your product to as a possible solution.”
Sometimes, businesses don’t want to wait the six to twelve months it can take to rank in organic search results (or SEO). Often, SEO marketing works best in conjunction with other marketing strategies, like paid search.
“For people who need to show up in search engines quickly, we recommend paid search,” Harrison said. “We can have them show up at the top of search engine results tomorrow. We use that to supplement organic search results. Once they get results, we can scale back the paid search.”
“Some small businesses have paid people to help them rank, but they are ranking for terms no one searches for. The first step is keyword research to determine what are the words customers are actually looking for.” said Jeremy Harrison.
